the cnn headquarters in atlanta. let's turn things over to john berman who is sitting in for jake tapper. "the lead" start right now. the white house never mentioned how many of the tur y turkeys it pardons go on to reoffend. i'm john berman, and this is "the lead." the national lead, a miserable storm on the busiest travel day of the year. it might have some of you asking just how much do i really want to see my alleged loved ones anyway? and could this weather ruin one of our most beloved holiday traditions and the only one with rated-pg inflatable dolls, the macy's day parade. >> president obama hoping americans will pardon the healthcare.gov web site the way he pardoned the turkey, but as they race a self-imposed deadline to fix the site, new word it's giving up on yet another part of the affordable care act for a whole year. >> when you run out of things to

talk about with the relatives tomorrow, how about going to a place where you can all sit quietly and not look at each other? your best bets for thanksgiving at the movies. welcome to "the lead," everyone. i'm john berman, filling in for jake tapper today. our national lead is thanksgiving travel. you may have to spend a lot longer staring at your departure gate than you ever wanted. you may have to endure a few extra hours of the kids yelling in the back seat, but the good news is, besides the fact they love you, probably, is despite the storms stretching from the mid-atlantic to the northeast causing lengthy delays, many of you should get to your destinations with plenty of time to fall into a tryptophan coma in front of the television. the bad weather is on its way out, but it has nasty parting gifts for some areas. one of our ireporters sent in these shots from a snow-covered buffalo new york. parts of the state got dumped

on, though it's nothing they haven't seen before. the real problem is the persistent rain. we are expecting to see even that move out over the next few hours. we have chad myers to explain more in the cnn severe weather center, and in one of the messiest states, pennsylvania, shannon travis standing by in pittsburgh. chad, let's start with you. by no means ideal on the roads and in the sky. we have seen thousands of flights delayed. hundreds cancels. when will it end the. >> tomorrow, the wind dies off, the rain dies off. it moves to the north, gets to nova scotia, to newfoundland and points northward from there. there's still 6,300 planes on that map. that's more than usual because a lot of airlines added planes into service today because they knew it would be so busy. now, it hasn't been as bad, i think, as some thought or as we may have predicted, but it's

still no picnic at philadelphia. this is the cancel board, what the board looks like at philadelphia if you were standing in the airport. canceled, canceled, about 12 flights or so, and then you get to the delayed. delayed is the good news, i guess, because you're not canceled. the planes are so full that when they cancel one plane, it might take five other, ten other planes that have empty seats, because there aren't that many seats, to take care of all those passengers. look at the word delayed. i could keep going. delayed, delayed, delayed. >> holy cow. >> about an hour and a half earlier today, 1:55. now we're down to one hour and 30 minutes. if you're traveling and going through these airports, that's good because your plane is going to be late getting there, but your connection is going to be late leaving. so if you just kind of hang out and know at least you're going to get there, we don't have 1,000 flights canceled today. we have 1,000 flights delayed, but we don't have 1,000 flights canceled. >> we love you, always finding

the good news in the mess. appreciate it. >> aaa estimates 43 million people are traveling for thanksgiving. and most of them, nearly 39 million, are doing it by road. which is a big problem in western pennsylvania. that part of the state has been getting lashed by the storm for more than 24 hours. and our shannon travis has been standing outside nearly the entire time. shannon, how are the roads doing right now? >> well, john, let me answer that question with something that a state transportation official told me earlier. he essentially said, we dodged a bullet. meaning that the wicked weather that the pittsburgh area was expecting wasn't so wicked after all. they did get a few inches of snow, but the roads have been pretty much clear. we have been driving along them, looking at the roads behind us. they have been pretty much clear. obviously, thanks in part to a lot of crews that have been out, helping to clear the roads. it seems as if most of the wickedness is really in other parts of pennsylvania. you mentioned a lashing in other county said, not here in allegheny where we are in

pittsburgh, but in other counties. i spoke earlier with officials. apparently in beaver and lawrence, they got up to 12 inches of snow. the cleaning crews are out in force there. a lot of people are getting out of the airport. i have been in contact with a spokesman at the airport, pittsburgh international. she tells me that there haven't been any significant weather canc lashzs or delays, but that definitely they have seen an increase in the number of flyers. 30,000 today alone. i asked her how much of an increase it was from normal. she said 15% to 20%. >> shannon travis, good news even in the western part of pennsylvania. appreciate it. moving on now to the politics lead. while most americans are home frantically looking for turkey brine recipes, they're staring down a tough deadline. the white house has promised to have the site 80% function by

monday morning, but today, the obama administration is throwing in the towel on part of the site for small businesses, at least for now. i want to bring in senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, the speaker of the house is calling this, quote, another broken promise. >> that's right. >> explain the latest delay. >> the sdran revealed the latest obama care mishap just as the president was about to pardon the thanksgiving turkey at the white house. republicans pounced and accused the white house of dumping bad news before the holiday, but basically, john, here's what's going on here. small insurance -- excuse me, small businesses were told today by officials at health and human services that they're delaying the online health enrollment feature at healthcare.gov for one year. that means those companies would have to buy insurance coverage for their employees offline, through insurers directly or through an insurance agent. officials had hoped, john, to get this portion of healthcare.gov working this

month. that's now not going to happen. officials caution that small businesses with fewer than 50 employee said are not required to purchase insurance under the law. the law just makes that enrollment available. as you mentioned, house speaker john boehner seized on the news and said the president should use this opportunity to delay implementation of the entire law until all the bugs are worked out. >> no republicans lining up to comment, but aside from the latest delay which is a failure to meet a goal, is the white house still confident about this november 30th date? the date they etset to get the healthcare.gov website 80% effective in. >> they said it will be working for what they call, quote, the vast majority of users this weekend. as much of the country is focused on the traffic on the highways, it is safe to say the obama administration is worried about the flow of people onto the site. earlier this week, senior white house official confirmed to me

that the administration did meet with ally groups, groups that are friendly to the white house, to urge them not to drive traffic to the site for at least a week. they want to see what the demand is going to be like on healthcare.gov. they're urging them to avoid the peak time, 2:00 p.m., and use healthcare.gov in the mornings. evenings, and weekends. and the democratic party sent out an e-mail to democrats all across the country earlier today, essentially giving talking points to people to, you know, use at the dinner table on thanksgiving if they're having conversations with their conservative relatives about obama care. here are pointers for what to say in response to all of the news today not going to help, but it's yet another mishap for the white house and one that they know is a big problem for them. >> it's what everyone wants to talk about at the thanksgiving table, health insurance. it's a fine line they seem to be walking. they want this to succeed, they want it up and running at 80%,

yet they're telling their allies to be cautious about driving people to it, in fact, talking about so much success. >> it almost sounds like, you know, what the department of transportation tells people, advises to people before memorial day weekend when they're heading to the jersey shore, john. avoid the peak hours. drive off peak hours. i suppose that's good advice for people traveling for thanksgiving. it's also the advice of the administration for using healthcare.gov. just to be frank, this is not the experience that this white house or this president ever imagined for this website, so they're managing expectations because they've got another deadline coming up for november 30th. that target date for when they thought the site, after all these repairs, is going to be working. at least as well as it can be working, they think, at this point. no question, an embarrassment for this administration that this site is not working as well as they wanted originally. so they're trying to lower expectations, manage expectations, and manage traffic as well, john. >> jim acosta at the white house, happy thanksgiving to you and your family. >> you, too, thanks.

if you're traveling this holiday, you want to stick around because there are a few things you can actually do to make things a little easier. plus, what's the best day after thanksgiving to make the trek back home? >> and later, a chilling story. two young germs r sgirls run to neighborhood's house in the night, saying they were held hostage next door for nearly two years. we'll tell you what the police found. it's such a peaceful place. it's so full of life. a place where the artisic beat of the big city, but the flavor of a traditional mexican town. ♪ imagine being on the green in the middle of the sea. some things can't be explained, you have to experience them. vallarta-nayarit, live it to believe it. ♪ there'll be the usual presentations on research.

and development. some new members of the team will be introduced. the chairman emeritus will distribute his usual wisdom. and you? well, you're the chief life officer. you just need the right professional to help you take charge. ♪ to help you take charge. thnot at the rings.looking. i can feel them looking at my thick, flaky red skin. do i tell them it's psoriasis? do i speak up and say it's not contagious? or do i just say... have a nice day!" when your psoriasis has gone from uncomfortable to unacceptable, visit psoriasis.com to connect with a psoriasis patient advocate from abbvie for free one-to one education and support. sign up at psoriasis.com, and talk to your dermatologist.

♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

discover card. hey! so i'm looking at my bill, and my fico® credit score's on here. yeah, you've got our discover it card,

so you get your fico® score on your monthly statements now, for free! that's nice of you! it's a great way to stay on top of your credit, and make sure things look the way they should. awesomesauce! huh! my twin sister always says that. wait...lisa? julie?! you sound really different on the phone. do i sound pleasant? for once in your life you sound very pleasant. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. free fico® credit score. get the it card at discover.com. kh. our national lead is the thanksgiving travel. some 43 million americans are traveling this holiday weekend. some 39 million of you are doing it by road. if you have been following really the best action of the day, the cnn great race, you know that brian todd has been on the highway all day, trying to drive from new york to washington, d.c. that's brian right now. live, smiling at us. he's a very happy man while he drives, which is nice to see.

we appreciate her happiness and joy despite the fact it's not always easy to drive these distances. we wanted to make it a little easier for you. we have expert survival tips for the biggest travel day of the year. joining me now is amy farley, the news editor for travel and leisure magazine. let's make this news you can use for all the people watching us in airports right now. if you are unlucky enough to be stuck at an airport at this moment, what's the best way to get out? >> first thing is to be very proactive. i mean, you should definitely sign up for e-mail and text alerts from your airline to find out about flight delays. also, follow them on twitter and check the twitter feed for flight stats. also very good about keeping your updated on delays as they unfold. if you're looking to get out and it looks like your current flight is going to be too delayed to maybe make it to your destination on time or catch

your connecting flight. flightstats the website is also great about telling you about seat availability on alternate routes or carriers. you can take the information, take it to your airline and see if they can book you on a different flight. >> do they have to help you? >> they don't have to, but they don't want to keep you stuck at the airport. it's a headache for them, a mess for them, so they'll do what they can. >> do you have favorite tricks if you're stuck in the airport. i i'm a parent of young kids. any tricks for keeping children entertained? >> these will apply to anyone, not just parents. download the app gateguru, which gives you detailed maps to airports so you can find where the best restaurants, shops, and play areas because they recognize parents are spending time there, so they set up games for kids. that's a great resource. the other thing i don't think a

lot of people know is you don't need to be an elite member of an airline's frequent flyer program to get access to their lounge. you can spend anywhere from $25 to $50 a day to get access to the lounge. there you find free food, wi-fi, a comfortable place to wait it out. if you're looking at a long delay, that's a good thing. >> and an open bar, which is important for parents. it's never too early to talk about getting home. let's talk about the exit strategies from thanksgiving. what do you do to make sure the trip home is better than there? >> i give you my exit strategy in two words, leave early. it's sunday, primarily most people will be traveling back on sunday. airports are going to be very crowdy. even without problems. it looks like it may not be a problem with weather, but still, you have to get there early. there's also a great app called mytsa, which gives you crowd source information about the wait times at security checks at

airports. that's also a great way to figure out how long it's going to actually take you to get to your gate. >> amy, thank you so much for joining us. i know this is like your super bowl, joining us on the busiest travel day of the year appreciate it. >> happy to be here. >> let's check in with our political panel now. happy thanksgiving eve, everyone. this is sort of a holiday in itself from cooking. you know, apparently tomorrow is the second most popular day of the year to order pizza. that's according to trade magazine. pizza today, which i get for the articles. my question to you, kevin, what do you guys do? what is served at the madden household the day before thanksgiving? >> yesterday was the big pizza party today. today is leftover pizza party day. we can't have mama madden cooking tonight and tomorrow. that's astounding. >> nothing says togetherness like pizza. >> mind blowing. stick around for the politics lead. that's next.

[ male announcer ] this store knows how to handle a saturday crowd. ♪ [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming. the carts keep everyone on the right track. the power tools introduce themselves. all the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. and the doors even handle the checkout so we can work on that thing that's stuck in the thing. [ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everyone goes home happy.

[ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i get bonuses even working part-time. where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day.

healthcare starting under $40 a month. i got education benefits. i work at walmart. i'm a pharmacist. sales associate. i manage produce. i work in logistics. there's more to walmart than you think. vo: opportunity. that's the real walmart.

the holidays can be an especially difficult time. everything's different now. sometimes i feel all alone. christmas used to be my favorite. i just don't expect anything. what if santa can't find me? to help, sleep train is holding a secret santa toy drive. bring your gift to any sleep train, and help keep the spirit of the holidays alive. not everyone can be a foster parent, but anyone can help a foster child. welcome back to "the lead," everyone. in national news, it may be hard

to fathom what three young sisters in arizona are telling police. this could be the first thanksgiving in years they have spent outside a personal prison. the girls, ages 12, 13, and sfaenl, say they were held captive in filthy conditions inside this home for several months. maybe as long as two years. police believe their mother and stepfather kept them prisoner inside. both suspects appeared in court earlier today. paul is following the story for us. paul, explain what's going on here. >> well, john, in talking to a veteran police officer, he said just absolutely horrible. he described what you alluded to, a prison of sorts inside. they found alarms, they found that vents had been sealed off, towels under a door. music blaring, anything to keep sound from coming out and keeping these three girls inside. so after police responded to reports of a man wielding a knife and chasing these girls at

this house, they found, they say the girls had escaped from a window and they were filthy and unkempt. now, a rumor circulated that the grandmother told a local affiliate that perhaps the girls were kept inside because they were home schooled and the parent didn't want them in the neighborhood, but earlier today, the police chief shot down that idea. >> they were imprisoned. their movements were controlled. there was evidence found in the bedrooms which supports their story, particularly issues about when and how and where they went to the bathroom, how they were fed, what they were fed. there's a lot of evidentiary items that supports the story the children are giving to us. >> and the charges against fernando richter and his wife sophia are mounting. against him, ten charges, three kidnapping, six cases of abuse including emotional and physical

and one charge of abuse, sexual abuse, with a person under 15. the wife has nine of those charges, not the sexual abuse charge, but police almost seem to be guaranteeing or promising that there will be more charges filed in this bizarre case, and also perhaps a key and critical piece of evidence, the eldest of the daughters, 17 years old, apparently, according to police, kept a journal that spans for more than a year and a half. undoubtedly, that could be bone-chilling reading and a key piece of evidence in court, john. >> some of the details you're listing here, awfully tough to hear. just to be clear, you say police responded to a call of a man wielding a knife chasing these girls. what are the neighbors saying about all this? >> apparently, the neighbors must have stepped in and made the call. what the neighbors say is, one group of neighbors said they had no idea that any girls even lived at that house. of course, the neighbors came to the rescue and also relaid these stories that the girls were

absolutely filthy. at that point, when the girls were with a neighbor, they said they had not bathed for four to 6 months and they were fed just once a day, john. >> like i said, these details tough to hear. hopefully these girls get some kind of justice. paul, thank you so much in los angeles for us. coming up for us next on "the lead," three of our correspondents racing from new york to washington, d.c. now it's a contest really for second place. which was faster? was it train, was it car? we'll have the definitive answer next. and it is touch and go right now for your favorite thanksgiving day parade floats. which ones could be grounded tomorrow if mother nature does not cooperate. what you wear to bed is your business.

so, if you're sleeping in your contact lenses, ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable they're approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. serious eye problems may occur. ask your doctor and visit airoptix.com for safety information and a free one-month trial. the price you see is the price you pay? yep, best prices of the year. i can't see. honey. [ laughs ] brad. yeah? what are you doing? uh... hi. hi. [ male announcer ] it's the chevy black friday sale. during the chevy black friday sale, get this traverse ls for under $29,000 or this equinox ls for around $23,000. hurry. the best prices of the year end monday, december 2nd.

welcome back to "the lead," everyone. in the national lead, cnn isn't just telling you what the travel situation is like out there. we're living it. sharing the pain. three reporters left new york city at the same time just about five hours ago. nic robertson by air from laguardia. lisa desjardins by train from penn station, and brian todd, poor brian todd, by car from manhattan. their destination, "the situation room" in washington, d.c. try plugging that into your gps.

the question, who would get there first? and would it look like the movie with steve martin and john candy. john foreman is in cnn's second place finisher. >> lisa desjardins. >> i made it. where is the button? nic, i'll say hi later. i have important things to do here, bam. 4:30. >> well done. >> how did you pull that off? i'm still not sure. >> it pulled back a minute and a half earlier. some people said, he held the plane. he just got so lucky. i didn't believe it. when i'm sitting in me seat, i thought, i feel so sorry for you. then i thought, no, no, let's go. >> forget that. i thought it was almost in my grasp. as you might have seen in the videos i sent, my whole train car was really into it. they had all these theories

about what could happen and how you possibly might come in second. >> i was living those in my head. like the flight would get diverted. it was so bumpy, because of the storm, they couldn't serve drinks. i was thinking, thal ey'll comet of the clouds and it won't be washington. >> this is nic, about three hours to come in here, coming by airplane. lisa just tagged in here at about four and a half hours, and brian todd is still drifting along out there. we'll get to brian in one minute. let's take a look at the map to see how all this shaped up. everybody left new york city up here at about noon, right from the bureau where we all work. nic had to get to the airport. he caught a big break. he came shooting out here, very quick. lisa, a few delays as you made your way down the yellow path on the train. a few places were a little slow, right? >> that's right, a 15-minute

delay, a little more than that, i think, because i was counting the seconds. that delay really hurt us. if nic had gotten on the next flight and i had gotten on my train on time, that's a lot of ifs, but i would have been looking at those long legs and be worried about them. >> from security to the gate, they came in 457handy. they're calling my name when i got there. >> and then brian. john, you said poor brian. brian has been slogging along in the car all day long here. he's now south of baltimore. not far from here. i believe brian, tell us where you are and why aren't you here? we have the turkey in the oven. >> yeah, thanks, tom, for rubbing it in. i'm halfway between baltimore and d.c. you wanted john candy and steve martin from "planes, trains, and automobiles." you've got it plus chevy chase from the national lampoons movies.

that's me and john and julian. we're just getting past -- pretty steadily raining the whole time. and now we're opening up a little bit, so i'll show you. just everything you're doing on the road, you'll see it's moving at a crawl from the front camera here, but it's better than it was a few minutes ago. yes, we're all very bitter that nic and lisa made it. >> we're waiting for you. but we're here. >> exactly. >> did you think you were going to win? a lot of people said, it's a no-brainer. he's getting on an airplane. >> never. >> why not? >> to get from the bureau to the airport was just going to be too long in the traffic. we took the elevator down. i just ran. i jumped in the road, i'm looking for taxis. i see his guy hesitating so i grabbed the door and jumped in, and then we hit the traffic, and the upper west side, and 20 minutes to go, 10 minutes. >> traffic getting out of

newark, and if you were later here, there would have been d.c. traffic. >> you thought you had a good chance? >> i thought i was going to take it. i know there were people in new york, i'm cereafor you, that may have laid money on that. >> don't say i didn't warn you. >> i thought there was no way he would make the flight, and for sure, it would get delayed, but this might be a lesson in karma. as nic was saying, as we were racing to the elevator said, he got a jump on all of us, he got in, i yelled, hold the elevator, he knew it was me, and he held the elevator. >> karma, the real karma right now is the one brian todd is still riding in. and we're hoping, we're hoping he gets here before the last slice of pie is gone. >> we'll be talking about this for year said, including nic robertson brushing aside the accusations of malfeasance gracefully. >> do not miss "the situation room" today. if all goes according to plan,

the last of our brave racers will cross the finish line in washington, d.c. now and forever known as poor brian todd. coming up on "the lead," the rain and snow might be gone by tomorrow, but strong winds could spell disaster for the macy's thanksgiving day parade. the fate of the famous floats up in the air right now. plus, hollywood stars lining up for a chance to help the homeless. so why are some shelter said turning away celebrity volunteers? i couldn't wait to see her again.

but i didn't want her to see my psoriasis. no matter how many ways i try to cover up, my psoriasis keeps showing up. all her focus is on me. but with these dry, cracked, red, flaky patches, i'm not sure if i want it to be. this is more than uncomfortable, it's unacceptable. visit psoriasis.com where you can get refusing to hide, a free guide filled with simple strategies for living well with psoriasis. learn more at psoriasis.com and talk to your dermatologist.

every. politics, another day, another problem with healthcare.gov, with just days to go before the white house's self-imposed deadline for having the website for the exchangeaty% functional, the administration is delaying a key portion that would allow small businesses to enroll on line. republicans are pausing from turkey preparation to pounce. in a statement, eric cantor said once again, president obama has unilaterally delayed another portion of obama care, and once

again, he's tried to bury the bad news around a holiday hoping nobody will notice. these are hardly the actions of a transparent administration. perfect segue to bring in our panel, republican statgist kevin madden. democratic strategist and former senior adviser to the hillary clinton for president campaign, kiki maclaine, and senior analyst and editor of national journal ron brownstein. let's start with you. got the brady bunch here. how big of a deal is this delay? >> substantively, it's not the biggest problem they have faced. really, it's going to mean that small businesses will continue to operate the way they have been, but i think it shows the fundamental problem they have and how difficult it's going to be to establish any kind of momentum in the program that reverses the negative initial perceptions. they had good news. some of the blue states are accelerating the rate of signps. they appear to be on track of

their goal of using the website by december 1st, but there are many landmines out there, if they can generate good news, a lot is going to explode in the weeks and months ahead. >> kiki, what about this, because you had the delay in the employer mandate. they promised it would not happen. there's a serious image problem. >> here's the important thing, an image problem. the reality, as ron said, more and more people are getting coverage. this is big, big change. and with big change comes big challenges. there have been mistakes made. the reality is the only thing that changes the reality on this is as more people become covered, things get better, the program works. what i laugh about, the statement from the republican leaders, is you know, they spent five years screaming they wanted to slow obama care down. when there is a delay, they get all worked up about it. there's a little conflict there. what's important is we are

making progress. it's slow progress, but it's steady and real, and there is good news. people are getting signed up, and by the way, on the small business piece, this is a delay, and small businesses can still sign up in the paper way, as understand it. so there's an opportunity for you. what's more important is they're recognizing and acknowledging what is wrong so they can continue to work and fix it. that's the most important thing. >> kevin, i know you want to get in here. before you respond, let me read you a statistic. 6 in 10 americans still say they oppose the health care law, but the reason continues to be that some people don't think the law is liberal enough. when you take that into consideration, more than half of americans either still support the law or don't think it goes far enough. so take that into consideration here when you are responding. >> look, i think one of the big problems, and to disagree with kiki, we don't want to delay it or slow it down, what we want to do is repeal it and go back to a patient-centric approach. one of the problems they're having is what you're seeing

with the public is an eroding sense of trust, an eroding sense that the administration and government has competence to implement this. this is a dramatic change in how the health insurance market works, a dramatic change in how people get their health care. it's reranged one sixth of the economy. they have applied one federal standard to a marketplace that used to have 50 different marketplaces that were tailored for 50 unique health situations across the country. trust is going to continue to erode. the american people's confidence in the ability of the obama administration and the government to actually implement this, it's only going to get worse as we see more and more delays. there are several mileposts coming up with the way the rates are going to be set for the next year, again, how small businesses continue to implement their plans, that are going to hurt how people get their health insurance. i think that's going to continue to drive down the numbers as it relates to the popularity of the law, or the unpopularity, i

should call it. >> ron, republicans like kevin are predicting doom and gloom in some cases going forward, but 56% of americans still say it's too early to tell if the health care law will be a success. you think that gives the white house hope that maybe the worse is over? >> i don't know if the worst is over, but there has not be a majority in repealing it. in some ways, the story will likely get more positive in terms of signing up more people, especially through the states. california is seeing a tremendous influx of people. the problem, though, jauohn, that's never going to be the whole story. even if they can dissolve to some extent, the bottleneck, you have reporting problems from the website to the insurers. if they get more people signed up on the federal site, they're going to open up more problems in terms of providing accurate information about who they are. they have a lot of untangling to

do. it's really astonishing. >> these are the risks we have to take to get people insured. look, kevin is right when he talks about how big the change is to one sixth of the economy. what was there before wasn't working. and we're making big change, and the reality is the confidence comes back with every person who becomes insured, and everything that works right will move us forward. this is not a short-term political ploy. this is for the long term, for real reform and real change. >> it's hard to say that when they're having those cancellations. >> last word in there. kiki maclaine, kevin madden, ron brownstein, happy thanksgiving. i have a segue meaner than it sounds. from hot air to hot air. this year, high winds could force the famous balloons to stay grounded. they are arguably the most awesome part of the whole

parade. on the other hand, nobody wants to run from a 44-foot-tall out of control spongebob careening down 44th street like some kind of dearranged godzilla. look at that. winds could be a serious problem. in 2005, wind hit the m & m balloon that hit two sisters. i want to bring in jason carroll, bravely standing by the parade start line. people are flocking there to see the ballos inflated. when do organizers make the call about whether they'll be a part of the parade? >> that's not going to come until tomorrow morning, just before the parade starts. in the meantime, the balloons are ready. we have sonic the hedgehog on the ground like the other balloons here. the question is will they end up staying on the ground? we have the people coming out, look at them, hundreds. by the end of the evening, it might be thousands coming out here in the wind and rain to see many of these iconic balloons.

the question is, will they end up flying out of here tomorrow? well, we spoke to the man just a little earlier, this is the man who is going to make the ultimate decision as to whether or not these balloons fly. listen to what he had to say. >> tomorrow, before the event, we'll make a determination. the police department, the incident commander, where the balloons will fly or not. >> based on the latest weather report, how is it looking so far for tomorrow? >> good. very good. we have the national weather service will be in my incident command post communicating with me. then we have monitors set up along the route, and there are, you go, gust numbers and wind numbers that we have locked into our head that allows us to fly or not to fly. >> and what that chief is going to be looking at are the wind measurements. 23-mile-per-hour sustained winds or 34-mile-per-hour gusts means balloons like sonic will have to

remain on the ground, but you heard it right there. he's feeling optimistic that tomorrow the macy's thanksgiving day parade balloons will be flying as they should be. >> keeping sonic the hedge hog company, thanks, jason. we appreciate it. when we come back, it's not just about overeating and arguing with the in-laws. it also comes with a huge platter of new movie releases. you'll get a sneak peek with tony scott. stay with us.

just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everything works like never before. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i get bonuses even working part-time. where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day. healthcare starting under $40 a month.

i got education benefits. i work at walmart. i'm a pharmacist. sales associate. i manage produce. i work in logistics. there's more to walmart than you think. vo: opportunity. that's the real walmart. medicare open enrollment. of year again. time to compare plans and costs. you don't have to make changes. but it never hurts to see if you can find better coverage, save money, or both. and check out the preventive benefits you get after the health care law. open enrollment ends december 7th. so now's the time. visit medicare.gov or call 1-800-medicare you're history. selsun blue itchy dry scalp. gets to the root of dandruff and hydrates the scalp. selsun blue itchy dry scalp.

welcome back to "the lead," everyone. in the pop lead, every holiday season, movies vie to be the big blockbuster, the film everyone is talking about. as the small screen has grown more ambitious with cult follows and binge viewing for shows like "breaking bad" the movies carry the same madge. . "new york times" film critic argues yes. scott says the big screen still offers something unique. he writes there are filmmakers determined to define and

reinvigorate the medium to capture newness and uniqueness and to figure out in a post-film platform-agnostic, digital-everything era, what the art of cinema might be. wonderfully written. tony scott joins me now. lay it out for us right now, tony. your favorite film of the holiday season. >> the one i really like, which is not the most cheerful one, is this movie "nebraska" directed by alexander payne. it's a good holiday movie because it's about a family coming together in this little town in nebraska. kind of reluctantly. also a father-son story with a terrific performance by bruce dern as this guy starting to lose it a little bit. an aging nebraskaen who lives in montana who thinks he won one of those sweepstakes. he got one of those letters that says you may have won a million dollars. he persuades his son to drive him to pick up the money, and they stop in his hometown along the way where memories and faces

from the past pop up. >> we have a clip, where bruce dern is going to claim the money that he insists he won. >> listen to me, you didn't win anything. it's a complete scam. you have to stop this, okay? >> i'm running out of time. >> you don't even have a suitcase. >> i'm not staying there. >> dad, i can't let you go. >> none of your business. >> yes, it is. i'm your son. >> then why don't you take me? >> i can't just drop everything and drive to lincoln, nebraska. >> what else you got going on? >> as you can see, the film is in black and white, which is unusual. >> very unusual. >> how does nebraska and other films you seem to like like "her" "inside llewellyn davis" how do they illustrate what films are offering right now? >> one of the things they offer is smaller scale stories in a way. they can -- you can be taken into a very intimate world, and into the imagination of a filmmaker. i mean, all of the films you

mentioned are the ones i like so much are -- they have a very individual stamp of a director thinking about how to tell the story. just even the fact that nebraska is in black and white, you know, that it's using a lot of nonprofessional arctors who liv in this town in nebraska, suggests that alexander payne has freedom working in this medium to tell this in an idio sencratic and individual way, the way the cohen brothers do or spike jonze. >> a lot of people argue the thing films can do is big. big blockbuster, super hero, this and that, but you're argue in some ways the complete opposite. what films can do is small. >> it works both ways. obviously, in terms of the movie business, the large scale action blockbust eer spectacle is a wa of getting the audience out of

the house, so big and amazing you can only see it on the big screen, in 3 -d in i max, but te way a feature film in 90 minutes or two hours, the way the long form story has gone to television, to cable, you can binge for 11 hours and watch all of "breaking bad" or all of "the good wife" or all of "scandal" or whatever it is, but if you really want to be swept up in this sort of intimate small-scale world, movies, i think, have a power to do that that television hasn't gotten to yet. the emphasis is still, and more even, more andplore, on the visual. >> the only film being discussed in my house, largely because my house is dominated by two 6-year-old boys, is frozen, the new big disney film. >> right. >> what's your take on it? >> i actually have not yet seen it. my kids are a little older, so the movie everybody is talking about in my house is "catching

fire" the second -- >> also a big one. the interesting thing about this, it's disney animation as opposed to pixar. >> and this keeps going back and forth, being proceeded by a short that tells you the story, in a way, of disney animation from the earliest days of the black and white hand-drawn disney, mickey mouse animations to this new era of the computer generated three-dimensional computer animation. and disney and pixar, it's an interesting kind of story and push and pull within that company. >> they both work for them. it's all success, though. tony scott, great to see you. happy thanksgiving. >> got other entertainment news. the hottest ticket in tinsel town this year, not a seat next to jack nicholson or diane canon at a game. it might be a spot serving thanksgiving meals. it's almost as tough to get as an oscar. shelters in los angeles have been turning away volunteers for

weeks because they say they have plenty. celebrity chefs look with actors like neil patrick harris and dick van dyke will help out tomorrow. times seem to be especially tough in los angeles. one mission expects to serve more meals this year than any year since the great depression. and if this whole royalty thing doesn't work out for prince william, he can always sing backup for an '80s hair band. ♪ hold on to what we've got it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not ♪ >> wow, no matter what happens to me, i'll always know i sing better than a prince. he sung along with bon jovi and taylor swicft in london. this is a benefit for homeless youth. now he's made it one of his causes. honestly, we wish we could have heard him sing "purple rain."

make sure to follow the show on twitter. that's it for "the lead" today. i am john berman sitting in for jake tapper. happy thanksgiving, everyone. i turn you over now to jim sciutto in "the situation room." >> happening now, travel trouble. a major storm hits on one of the busiest travel days of the year. grounded airports, full flights, dangerous driving conditions. how will all of it impact your travel plans? cnn's great race. three of our correspondents compete to get from new york to "the situation room" here in washington by train, plane, and car. just how long will it take? and radical change. pope francis outlines a bold new vision and a massive shakeup of his church. what is he asking roman catholics around the world to do? i'm jim sciutto. you're in "the situation room."